Your handy guide to VAT: What will change in UAE

VAT will be applicable to most daily usage goods and services that residents consume

The UAE will implement five percent value-added tax (VAT) from 7 am on January 1, 2018, with a few goods and services zero-rated and exempted as part of the GCC-wide agreement.

Being an indirect tax on consumers, VAT will be applicable on most daily usage goods and services that residents consume, helping the government to boost its coffers to further improve infrastructure and offer better facilities.

Categorised into three segments – five percent standard rate, exempt and zero-rated – VAT is one of the most common types of consumption taxes in the world as it’s levied in more than 150 countries.

In the UAE, the Federal Tax Authority has asked all entities and individuals crossing the threshold of Dh375,000 to register and get approval before January 1, 2018, to ensure that they don’t face any penalties.

As per the regulations, the sectors that will be subject to five percent VAT include food and beverages, utility bills, private transport services, hotel services, entertainment, electronics, school uniforms, commercial rents, cars, and jewelry, among others.

The categories that have been exempted include healthcare services, medicines, tuition fee, local transport, residential rents, surgery and certain government services.

VAT is normally charged at each step of the supply chain and it ultimately ends at the consumer who pays the tax. However, producers charge it from suppliers and suppliers shift the cost to the consumer. In the case of zero-rated services, the companies can claim refunds from the government.

Analysts believe that VAT will not have a big impact on the cost of living as the rate is one of the lowest in the world. They said that the lower-income class is already aware of its income and expenses, so they know what and where to spend. However, the bigger impact could be on middle-income residents who earn around Dh20,000 as their grocery, fuel, kids’ school costs and others will increase marginally. Meanwhile, the high-earning class will not feel the impact considering their high incomes and low inflation.

There are more than seven million expats living in the UAE who send, on average $20 billion remittances to their home countries each year. Remittance fees are as low as Dh18 to as high as Dh55 for the United States, United Kingdom, and European corridor.

In the GCC, the UAE and Saudi Arabia will be the first two countries to launch VAT from January 1, while other countries will follow in the coming years.

Key source of income

The introduction of VAT will help the UAE government to generate an estimated Dh12 billion worth of revenue in the first year, which will increase to Dh20 billion in 2019.

“Collection of VAT will boost government revenues. This, however, may or may not be used to increase government spending that generally boosts GDP growth.

We have downgraded the UAE’s GDP growth forecast to two percent in 2017 from three percent in 2016 as a result of oil production cuts. Though GDP growth is expected to increase next year, it is mainly on the back of improvement in the non-oil sectors and infrastructure spending relating to Expo 2020,” said Anita Yadav, head of fixed income research and senior director of wholesale banking at Emirates NBD.

Akber Naqvi, executive director and head of asset management at Al Masah Capital, said VAT is expected to have a positive impact on the UAE’s economy, especially as an alternative source of revenue for the government. However, the implementation and execution will be important for the success of such reforms to have a meaningful and sustainable impact on the broader economy. The long-term impact will take a few years to crystallize after the introduction in 2018, especially as this system will take time to be streamlined across all industries.

“VAT has been an important source of revenue in many advanced and developing economies as the government is empowered to fund various developmental projects, thereby accelerating economic growth. Timely implementation of VAT would help the UAE’s GDP growth to retract from the adverse impact it had suffered in the last three years due to low oil prices,” he added.

The new tax is expected to add $3.27 billion (around 0.8 percent of GDP) to the UAE government’s coffers in 2018, rising to as much as $5.45 billion (around 1.2 percent of GDP) in 2019. Non-oil GDP growth rate which hovered around 2.7 percent in 2016 is estimated to be 3.4 percent in 2018, M.R. Raghu, managing director, Marmore Mena Intelligence, said. – [email protected]

Burning questions

What sectors will be zero-rated?

VAT will be charged at 0% in respect of the following main categories of supplies:

. Exports of goods and services to outside the GCC

. International transportation, and related supplies

. Supplies of certain sea, air and land means of transportation (such as aircraft and ships)

. Newly-constructed residential properties, that are supplied for the first time within three years of their construction

. Supply of certain education services, and supply of relevant goods and services

. Supply of certain healthcare services, and supply of relevant goods and services

What sectors will be exempt?

The following categories of supplies will be exempt from VAT:

. The supply of some financial services (clarified in legislation)
. Residential properties
. Bare land
. Local passenger transport

What are the cases that would lead to penalties?

Penalties will be imposed for non-compliance. Examples of actions and omissions that may give rise to penalties include:

. A person failing to register when required to do so
. A person failing to submit a tax return or make a payment within the required period
. A person failing to keep the records required under the issued tax legislation
. Tax evasion offences where a person performs a deliberate act or omission with the intention of violating the provisions of the issued tax legislation

Source: Ministry of Finance, Federal Tax Authority

Snapshot

> VAT is currently adopted by over 150 countries

> It contributes 20% to worldwide tax revenues

> The average standard rate in the EU (excluding new members) is almost 20% and generates revenues equivalent to 7.5% of GDPVAT tiers in UAE
> Standard 5%: This means that businesses and individuals will be subject to 5% VAT on the sale and purchase of goods and services

> Exempt: This means that businesses and individuals are not required to pay VAT

> Zero-rated: This means that VAT will apply on the goods but the rate of VAT a company or individuals charges from customer is 0%. Firms have to record them in their VAT accounts and report them on VAT return